David Bianculli

It was as much a lecture as an acceptance speech. And it also may have provided a clue to a hidden motivation behind Conan's travel series, Conan O'Brien Must Go, which started its second season May 8th on Maxx.

It was as much a lecture as an acceptance speech. And it also may have provided a clue to a hidden motivation behind Conan's travel series, Conan O'Brien Must Go, which started its second season May 8th on Maxx.

It was as much a lecture as an acceptance speech. And it also may have provided a clue to a hidden motivation behind Conan's travel series, Conan O'Brien Must Go, which started its second season May 8th on Maxx.

From triumph to letterman, every speaker on that Kennedy Center stage that night explained why Conan O'Brien was a worthy recipient of the Mark Twain Award. Yet no one explained it as well as Conan himself.

From triumph to letterman, every speaker on that Kennedy Center stage that night explained why Conan O'Brien was a worthy recipient of the Mark Twain Award. Yet no one explained it as well as Conan himself.

From triumph to letterman, every speaker on that Kennedy Center stage that night explained why Conan O'Brien was a worthy recipient of the Mark Twain Award. Yet no one explained it as well as Conan himself.

Afterward, when he closed the show by jamming on guitar, playing Neil Young's Livin' in the Free World with Adam Sandler and the Max Weinberg Seven, he looked like he was having the time of his life. And as this special proves, as a comic and even as a student of Twain's writings, Conan O'Brien has led quite a life.

Afterward, when he closed the show by jamming on guitar, playing Neil Young's Livin' in the Free World with Adam Sandler and the Max Weinberg Seven, he looked like he was having the time of his life. And as this special proves, as a comic and even as a student of Twain's writings, Conan O'Brien has led quite a life.

Afterward, when he closed the show by jamming on guitar, playing Neil Young's Livin' in the Free World with Adam Sandler and the Max Weinberg Seven, he looked like he was having the time of his life. And as this special proves, as a comic and even as a student of Twain's writings, Conan O'Brien has led quite a life.

This is Fresh Air. I'm David Bean Cooley. R. Crum is the most renowned of the underground cartoonists who emerged in the 1960s. He created Zap Comics, featuring an entire menagerie of his characters, such as Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, the Snoid, and Devil Girl. His comics were eccentric, and so was he, as a 1994 documentary by Terry Zweigoff makes clear.

This is Fresh Air. I'm David Bean Cooley. R. Crum is the most renowned of the underground cartoonists who emerged in the 1960s. He created Zap Comics, featuring an entire menagerie of his characters, such as Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, the Snoid, and Devil Girl. His comics were eccentric, and so was he, as a 1994 documentary by Terry Zweigoff makes clear.

This is Fresh Air. I'm David Bean Cooley. R. Crum is the most renowned of the underground cartoonists who emerged in the 1960s. He created Zap Comics, featuring an entire menagerie of his characters, such as Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, the Snoid, and Devil Girl. His comics were eccentric, and so was he, as a 1994 documentary by Terry Zweigoff makes clear.

Crum wrote a memoir in 2005 titled The R. Crum Handbook. Reviewing the book then in Newsweek, Malcolm Jones wrote, "...Crum has made strange and hilarious art out of his own neuroses. Insecure and paranoid, obsessed with sex in general and women with big behinds in particular, Crum has never been afraid to draw and write about his own foibles and fantasies.

Crum wrote a memoir in 2005 titled The R. Crum Handbook. Reviewing the book then in Newsweek, Malcolm Jones wrote, "...Crum has made strange and hilarious art out of his own neuroses. Insecure and paranoid, obsessed with sex in general and women with big behinds in particular, Crum has never been afraid to draw and write about his own foibles and fantasies.

Crum wrote a memoir in 2005 titled The R. Crum Handbook. Reviewing the book then in Newsweek, Malcolm Jones wrote, "...Crum has made strange and hilarious art out of his own neuroses. Insecure and paranoid, obsessed with sex in general and women with big behinds in particular, Crum has never been afraid to draw and write about his own foibles and fantasies.

His work is like an id unleashed with no thought for propriety." R. Crumb's work has been controversial, considered racist and misogynistic. Now there's a new biography of Crumb by fellow cartoonist and founder of the Pictureboxx comics, Dan Nadel. Crumb is now 81 years old and lives in France, where he's resided for decades. We're going to listen back to Terry's 2005 interview with R. Crumb.

His work is like an id unleashed with no thought for propriety." R. Crumb's work has been controversial, considered racist and misogynistic. Now there's a new biography of Crumb by fellow cartoonist and founder of the Pictureboxx comics, Dan Nadel. Crumb is now 81 years old and lives in France, where he's resided for decades. We're going to listen back to Terry's 2005 interview with R. Crumb.

His work is like an id unleashed with no thought for propriety." R. Crumb's work has been controversial, considered racist and misogynistic. Now there's a new biography of Crumb by fellow cartoonist and founder of the Pictureboxx comics, Dan Nadel. Crumb is now 81 years old and lives in France, where he's resided for decades. We're going to listen back to Terry's 2005 interview with R. Crumb.

R. Crum speaking with Terry Gross in 2005. We'll continue their conversation after a break, and we'll also listen to a later interview in which the cartoonist is joined by another cartoonist, his wife, Aileen Kaminsky Crum. And film critic Justin Chang reviews Thunderbolts, the newest superhero movie from Marvel. I'm David Bianculli, and this is Fresh Air.

R. Crum speaking with Terry Gross in 2005. We'll continue their conversation after a break, and we'll also listen to a later interview in which the cartoonist is joined by another cartoonist, his wife, Aileen Kaminsky Crum. And film critic Justin Chang reviews Thunderbolts, the newest superhero movie from Marvel. I'm David Bianculli, and this is Fresh Air.